


Like a light came on

by littlemissmusique



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Retail, Co-workers, F/M, Love Confessions, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Pining, Teen Romance, Workplace Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:48:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22734322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littlemissmusique/pseuds/littlemissmusique
Summary: Instead of meeting at school, Marinette and Adrien meet while working at a supermarket. (Non-powered!AU)Excerpt:Adrien, at that moment, was casually (perfectly) strolling back up towards the service desk. Marinette knew he would pass her in a moment and may have slightly panicked - at least, that was the only reason she could come up with for what she did next.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 8
Kudos: 66





	1. Chapter 1

Marinette nodded seriously as she listened to Caline Bustier, her new manager. It was her first day of work and she was trying really hard to focus. Caline finished explaining the emergency evacuation protocols and raised her eyebrows at Marinette. “Is that clear?”

Marinette nodded again. “Yes ma’am.”

Caline’s stern expression fell and she smiled at the young girl. “‘Caline’ is fine. Now come on, let’s get you on a register.” At Marinette’s panicked look she added, “Don’t worry, we’ll put you on with someone else at first, to train you up a bit. Let’s see who’s here…”

Caline led her to stand in front of a blonde boy working on a checkout. They waited patiently until he had finished with his current customer, Marinette twisting her hands together with nerves.

The boy farewelled the customer and turned to Caline and Marinette. “Hey Caline,” he greeted.

Caline smiled. “Adrien, this is Marinette. This is her first shift, so if you could just show her the ropes, the basics of the register, that’d be great.” She turned to Marinette. “Marinette, Adrien is one of our best workers. Don’t be shy, I promise he’s nice.”

Marinette laughed awkwardly. “Nice to meet you,” she said to the boy. He grinned back at her, and _whoa_ . That was not going to help her nerves at _all_.

“So what have you learnt so far?” Adrien began.

She shrugged a little. “Er, not much to be honest. I did the computer training, but it wasn’t very helpful.” She blushed a little at her own candour and peered up at him nervously, worried she’d overstepped, but he gave an easy laugh.

“Yeah, the best way to learn really is just by doing it. Let’s start off slowly, and if you’re unsure of anything just ask.” A customer approached them. “You scan, I’ll pack. Then we’ll switch,” Adrien added, before turning to greet the customer.

Over the course of the next hour, Marinette learned a lot. Adrien managed to balance keeping the customers engaged in conversation with simultaneously dropping advice to her the whole time, all the while keeping a mellow smile on his face. Marinette learnt about the different tabs on the checkout screen, tricks to packing a bag neatly, the difference between Cavendish and Lady Finger bananas, how to handle customers when unsure of something, and that Adrien couldn’t stand Golden Delicious apples.

When the end of her shift came around, she almost didn’t want to leave. Adrien had somehow made her feel so much more comfortable than she had imagined she’d be after just a few short hours on the job, so she thanked him and nodded when he said he’d see her around.

On her way home, Marinette fanned herself. Well, this job was off to a big start. Whether that was good or bad, only time would tell.

_~ One Year Later ~_

“Hello, this is Marinette.”

“Hi Marinette, this is Adrien from Carrefour.”

Marinette paused, then continued searching her bag for her house keys. “Hi, how are you?”

“I’m good thank you, how about you?”

“Good thanks.” She sighed internally. Months and years of customer service made it impossible to have a conversation with another team member without small talk.

“Right, so I was wondering if you would be free to work a shift tonight.”

Marinette managed to open the front door as she quickly ran through her evening plans in her head. “What time’s the shift?”

“Four till nine.”

“Um…” She couldn’t think of anything, and quickly sent up a prayer that there wasn’t anything urgent she’d forgotten about. “Sure, I can do that.”

“You can? Great! See you then.”

“See you later,” she finished, and hung up the phone.

~~~~~~

“Hey Marinette, how are you?” Caline greeted.

“Pretty good thanks, how about you?” Marinette returned politely.

“Yeah, good." Caline ran a finger down the roster. "Now, could you… take over from Adrien? He’s going home.”

“Sure thing.” She began walking down to Adrien’s checkout, smiling a little when she saw he was in an animated conversation with an amused customer.

He glanced up as she neared.

“Hello, I think you’re going home.” Marinette walked behind him and set her drink bottle down on the counter. “Do you want me to finish it?”

Adrien surveyed the counter and shrugged. “I don’t mind.”

Marinette blinked and looked at him with helpless indecision, to which he grinned and said “Alright, how about you scan and I pack?”

She nodded. “Okay.” They continued working and chatting with the customer.

In the year Marinette had been working at the Carrefour Market, she had slowly gotten to know Adrien Agreste. They weren’t exactly friends, and since they went to different schools rarely saw each other, but Marinette felt she could call him an… acquaintance, at least. Someone she was happy to see when she showed up for work. Since that first shift they had always gotten along well, and that original underlying crush she’d had on him had faded. This was probably a good thing for two reasons: 1) So they could be professional, and 2) Whenever she consciously had a crush she turned into a stammering mess around them, in which case she likely would never have become friends with Adrien.

A couple of minutes later, Adrien glanced at the time and said, “I might have to leave you soon, if that’s alright.”

Marinette smiled and waved him away vaguely. “Sure, no problem. See you later!”

~~~~~~

It was the evening of the annual work party, and Marinette had been pacing for the better part of ten minutes before her mother exasperatedly told her to “sit down before the floor gave way.”

The invitations had been handed out a few weeks ago, and originally Marinette hadn’t actually planned on attending. Alya was out of town with her parents for the weekend and Marinette didn’t really fancy standing in the corner on her own the whole night. But when Rose, her sweet-tempered coworker, asked if Marinette would accompany her, she hadn’t been able to refuse. _And Adrien might be there_ , a voice whispered in her head. She frowned slightly. Where had that come from?

Marinette shook her head as if to clear the thought, and jumped up when her phone buzzed with a notification. “That’ll be Rose. Bye, love you both!”

She gave Sabine a quick hug and ran out to meet Rose. “Thanks for picking me up!”

Her friend offered her a smile. “Of course, no worries.”

At the restaurant, the two girls stuck close together to share their mutual awkwardness. After a few minutes they spotted a group of fellow employees around their age. “Over there!” Marinette suggested. “I see Juleka. Let’s go sit with them.”

~~~~~~

The evening was going surprisingly well. Marinette had spoken to more people than she could count on one hand - a true achievement! A moment after she had that thought, however, her gaze snagged on a certain blonde across the room. She froze, before recovering.

Marinette nudged Rose subtly. “Hey, I didn’t know Adrien was going to be here.”

Rose gave her a strange look. “Why wouldn’t he be?”

Knowing Rose was often exempt from the workplace gossip, Marinette shrugged uncomfortably and decided to drop it. “No reason,” she said vaguely, waving a hand and inserting herself back into the conversation. She’d simply have to get an answer out of him later.

~~~~~~

At home afterwards, Marinette tugged on her ponytail as she considered her phone. She’d never actually messaged Adrien before. Never interacted with him outside of the unavoidable at work.

The cursor blinked at her mockingly. The green ‘active’ light was giving her anxiety. _A single green light, minute and far away,_ she thought, somewhat hysterically. She took a deep breath and began drafting messages.

Fifteen minutes later Marinette stared down at the message ready to be sent. _Gatsby believed in the green light_. Deep breath. _Send_. Five minutes after that, her phone buzzed with a reply. Marinette stuffed her quilt in her mouth to stop herself from squealing or wailing in her emotional confusion.

_Marinette: So I saw you were there tonight - there was some speculation over whether you were going to quit or not. I guess that’s a ‘not’, then?_

_Adrien: Haha, sure is. Who was speculating?_

Marinette panicked, turned off her internet, and left the room. A few minutes later she came back and very calmly restored her phone to the glory of Wi-Fi. She took a moment to steady herself. Social encounters may not be her thing, but surely she could have a simple conversation with a coworker without completely losing it!

_Adrien: And hey, we didn’t get a chance to talk. How are you?_

_Marinette: Oh, it was just some of the girls because they’d heard you’d been super busy lately. I’m doing well, study and work plus sleep when I have time in between. You know how it goes. How about you?_

_Adrien: I’m good, thanks. Yeah I know how it is. When you have some free time we should catch up. :)_

Too much. Marinette would turn the Wi-Fi back on when she was sure her heart wasn’t about to pound out of her chest.

On the bright side, she was pretty sure they were friends now!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ever since becoming Official Friends with Adrien, Marinette had been finding it harder to concentrate at work. She supposed it was to be expected when working with a friend, but she didn’t have issues quite like this with Alya…

Marinette crossed the road and approached the doors to the market. An older man was sitting on a bench outside the shop. “Oh, they just let a couple of people in. You just missed in,” he told her in a scratchy voice.

Marinette shrugged, smiling cheerfully. “I’ll find a way,” she assured him. “They’ll let me in.”

She got closer to the doors, and as she reached them she heard someone press the button she knew was inside. Marinette entered the store and saw Adrien at the end register by the button.

“Hello,” he said cheerfully.

She gave a small smile. “Thanks,” she replied, in reference to him opening the door. _Whoops, didn’t say hello. Ah well. Close enough_ , she thought to herself as she walked out the back towards her locker.

It was a fairly busy Sunday, and they were working back-to-back. Marinette was in a pretty good mood: the store was busy enough to keep time ticking by, her shift was almost over, and she hadn’t dropped a single breakable item despite her preoccupation with the person who was less than a metre behind her.

She heard a mention of “university” behind her and immediately tuned in to the conversation.

“Yeah, I’ll only have a couple days this semester,” Adrien was saying. “Tuesdays and Fridays, that’s it.”

A few moments later, Marinette had no customers and was cleaning her register when Adrien suddenly turned to face her. I only have to go in two days next semester. Tuesdays and Fridays, nine to five, and that’s all,” he told her conversationally.

“That’s nice,” Marinette agreed, pretending she hadn’t already overheard him. She hesitated for a moment, then added “Um, what are you actually studying?”

Adrien had turned back to fiddle with his checkout screen, so he glanced over his shoulder to look at her. “I’m a model, but I want to study game design.”

Marinette’s eyebrows flicked up. _A model? Who even- what kind of world does this boy live in?_ “Oh,” she said genuinely, before deciding to focus on the game design, which in all fairness was pretty awesome in its own right. “That’s cool,” she offered, and frowned slightly to herself. _Damn. Why did he have to be studying something I find interesting?_ It seemed like every time she spoke to Adrien she discovered something new to like about him.

~~~~~~

It was Christmas Eve, and Marinette was fifteen minutes from finishing her shift for the evening. Everyone left working was completely exhausted. They had been swamped all day. As she started tidying up her register in preparation for closing, she saw Alya climbing onto a register and beginning to take down the tinsel. Marinette objected at once. “It’s not even Christmas yet!” she called to her friend. “Can’t that wait until Boxing Day?”

Alya shrugged apologetically, but continued taking the tape off the decorations. “Caline said it had to be today. We won’t have time before opening on Boxing Day, and instructions are that they all have to be down before then.”

Marinette gave a disappointed sigh, but accepted it and continued what she was doing. A couple of minutes later, Alya reached the register directly behind her and ripped the tape off the tinsel there. Glitter fell down everywhere, making Marinette sneeze.

“Bless you,” a voice called, sounding amused. Marinette looked up to see Adrien watching her.

She flushed. “Thank you,” she answered, and gave Alya a surreptitious glare which her friend innocently ignored.

Alya hadn’t actually moved the tinsel yet, planning on pulling all the tape off and then simply gathering it all up. When she reached the end register where Adrien was working, she pulled the sticky tape off dramatically, allowing the last of the tinsel to collapse on Adrien’s head. He squinted up at Alya, who didn’t try to hide her laugh at the sight of the normally put-together boy covered in red and gold sparkly foil.

Alya snuck a glance at Marinette, who was watching with a soft look in her eyes, obviously trying to hide a smile.

Adrien followed her gaze and looked thoughtful. Rather than tossing the tinsel off himself, he gathered it up and began tying it around himself. Alya raised her eyebrows at him, and he shrugged. “Shame to let it go to waste before Christmas has even happened,” he commented offhandedly.

A mischievous grin worked its way onto Alya’s face. “It sure would be,” she agreed solemnly, and jumped down to help tie knots to secure the tinsel around Adrien’s torso.

Adrien spent the remainder of the night looking like a gaudy blonde Christmas tree, but when Marinette passed him on her way out and said goodbye with a giggle, his eyes lit up.

Alya watched them both and shook her head and the collective uselessness of her coworkers. _Oblivious idiots_ , she thought fondly.

~~~~~~

Marinette unlocked the front door and let herself into her family’s building, not bothering to call out a greeting. Her parents would be out for at least another couple of hours.

She dropped her bag with a sigh. It had been a long day. First school, then a five-hour shift straight afterwards, and she was completely knackered. After double-checking her door was locked, she flopped onto her bed and turned on some music. For a little while she just listened, letting the sounds surround her and begin to calm her down.

Marinette repositioned herself, uncomfortable in her work clothes at the end of the night, and shifted as she drew her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. As she brought her arms back down, she let her hands begin wandering, caressing her skin and tracing her curves.

After a few minutes, she allowed her hands to slowly drift lower. Her left hand slipped under her waistband and she stroked herself through her knickers. Her hips started to move of their own volition, and she paused to shuck off her pants.

Marinette’s gasps grew louder as her finger circled her clitoris. She played with herself languidly a while longer, fingers moving in and out of herself, listening to the music interspersed with her own quiet moans. Strong, capable hands flickered in her memory.

Eventually she felt her body tense and returned attention to her clitoris, pressing harder, rougher. A vision of blonde hair and an easy smile forced itself to the forefront of her mind. She cried out as her orgasm crashed over her.

Marinette lay there are the residual waves passed, body relaxed and pliant. As normal brain function returned, she remembered the mental image she’d been thinking about as she climaxed.

Marinette sat straight upright as she realised just who those strong hands, blonde hair and easy smile belonged to.

Oh.

Shit.

~~~~~~

So it turned out Marinette had a crush on Adrien.

Possibly.

A teeny-tiny little possible crush.

Oh who was she kidding, mere hours ago she had been getting off to the thought of him. It was pretty clear she had a thing for the blonde boy. The question was: how was she going to deal with it?

Unfortunately, she had a shift the next day, so she’d have to find a way to pull it together. Her current strategy was as follows: Don’t have a crush on him. _Ha. Ha. Ha._ Because that was sure to work.

~~~~~~

Marinette arrived a few minutes early to her shift, as always. At the service desk she had a second to spare before someone came to tell her where to go, so she stole a quick upside-down glance at the roster on the desk. Aaaand, yep, sure enough there it was. _Adrien A., 16:00-21:00_. He would be there soon then, she supposed. Right then. Time to focus.

For the first hour of her shift it was easy - she was at her checkout and Adrien was working in the express lane up at the service desk. A little later, however, he moved down to the regular checkouts. Marinette was on six and Adrien was on nine; the configuration of the registers meant he was facing in her direction - or, to be fair, they were facing each other. Marinette couldn’t help a couple of glances, immediately followed by an intense study of the nearest shelf or window, or whichever random item in her hands she happened to be scanning at the time At one point she accidentally glanced over right as Adrien was yawning, and they made eye contact. So, of course, Marinette took the obvious course of action: a minor flail, before staring down at her screen, then at the door behind his head, then at the shelf to his left, then at her screen again.

 _So smooth, Marinette_.

A half hour later he moved to somewhere else in the store, which was just fine with Marinette. At one point he walked past her to the end register to speak with Juleka. This just so happened to coincide with Marinette trying to push her dividers down the end so customers would be able to reach them more easily. She had kind of thrown one haphazardly down but it wasn’t sitting properly in place because the next customer had over-stacked the conveyor belt so their items were spilling out to the sides.

Marinette huffed. “Good enough,” she muttered. She tried once more to push it down properly, then gave up. Adrien, at that moment, was casually (read: _perfectly_ ) strolling back up towards the service desk. Marinette knew he would pass her in a moment and may have slightly panicked - at least, that was the only reason she could come up with for what she did next.

“My arms aren’t long enough,” she informed her customer seriously. (Perhaps slightly louder than strictly necessary.) And then, to emphasise her little arms, she wiggled them in the air like a T-rex, which is obviously the best way to get a boy to notice you. _Great plan in theory, execution could be improved_ , she silently chided her spasming brain.

Marinette’s internal monologue went silent for the next few minutes, musing over that moment of temporary insanity that had come over her, and probably inventing the best ways to torture herself with the memory later.

Of course, that was when Adrien came back and opened up a register.

Right. Opposite. Her.

But, like the cool person she was, Marinette ignored him completely. While he was logging in and getting set up, he looked up at her and said, “When it gets to seven forty-five I’ll take over from your checkout, okay?”

Marinette just nodded slightly. “O-okay, thanks.” _See? So cool._

Whilst speaking to a customer, the conversation turned to holidays. Marinette commented, “It’s odd because they’re not really holidays for me since I still have to go in to school to study.”

The lady was nice and said reassuringly, “At least at the end of the year you’ll get longer holidays though, right?”

“I know, right!” Marinette exclaimed enthusiastically. “It’s like three months. And then next year should hopefully be uni, so that’ll be the next adventure,” she finished, offering the customer a politely excited smile. She supposed she wanted Adrien to know she was going to uni next year - even though she knew he already knew - because going to uni meant possibly going to _his_ uni, even if she’d never see him because they’d be studying different things.

Hey, no one ever said having a crush was logical.

When talking to another customer a few minutes later, Marinette mentioned that it was almost the end of the school holidays. She tended to reuse conversation starters a lot. It made for good small talk, and all the employees were used to hearing the same story retold seventeen times in a shift.

“Are you excited to go back?” the customer inquired.

Marinette grinned a little. “Oh yeah, definitely. I just cannot wait. It is my favourite of all things, I’m just so excited because I love it and can’t bear to be away.”

The customer laughed at her dramatic, sarcastic tone and Marinette’s grin widened even as she took note of Adrien’s small smile. That was okay because he needed to know that she could be dramatic and sarcastic, she reasoned, because being overly dramatic was an intrinsic part of her personality that she could not control. She determinedly ignored how much his presence made her act and think like a crazy person.

About ten minutes before the end of her shift, there was a call of “Marinette, please contact the service desk by phone, Marinette.”

She perked up a little and said “Oh, that’s me!” She picked up the phone and Juleka’s voice came through.

“Hey, put your sign up now and then you can go.”

“Okay, thanks!” Marinette replied cheerfully, and hung up the phone. She checked in her drawers and cupboards but couldn’t find a sign. She looked to Adrien and began to ask “Hey, do you have a sign that I can…?” whilst waving vaguely to the end of her conveyor belt.

Adrien looked slightly confused and said, “I thought I was taking over from yours. I already put my sign up.”

Marinette looked, and sure enough there was the small “Checkout Closed” sign. She blinked, not having even noticed him put it up. _Good job, Marinette. Not entirely focussed on him then._

She shrugged a little and said, “I don’t know. It probably doesn’t matter that much then, since either way one of us will be closing up.”

Adrien called the front desk and had a quick conversation with them before hanging up and saying a quiet word to his customer. The customer then switched the closing sign from the end of his checkout to the end of hers. Marinette and Adrien just shrugged at each other, and Marinette called a “thank you!” to the customer.

When it was time for her to leave, Adrien was speaking to a customer so Marinette figured she could always say goodbye on her way past after she’d been to her locker. However, when she walked past on her way out Adrien was - again - in the middle of a conversation. She supposed she could still say goodbye, but she didn’t really want to interrupt the conversation and make it A Thing, so she (unsuccessfully) willed him to look at her before simply leaving.

Marinette mulled it over as she walked home. Sometimes when one of them was leaving, Adrien would say “goodbye” or “see you later”, and though Marinette would always reply, she didn’t often speak first. But she did often say “hi” first, so she supposed it probably just about evened out.

It was possible she was overthinking this.

~~~~~~

"Okay but he's just so perfect, Alya," Marinette complained from her position flopped oh-so-elegantly over her friend's bed. "He's a _model_. I want to be a _fashion designer_. Our children would be editors for Marie Claire! They'd be photographers! They'd take over the world!"

Alya sighed and flipped a page of her book. "Uh-huh," she hummed absently.

" _And_ he wants to make video games. I can design clothes for him and he can make games for me! We're so compatible, Alya, it's insane. How can anyone be so perfect?" She gave a heart-sore huff.

Alya nodded. "Mm-hm. Definitely."

Marinette sat up and glared at her friend. "Are you even listening to me?"

"World domination, you're in love, you're a chicken, yadda yadda. Sound about right?"

"Alyaaa," Marinette whined. "I'm having a crisis here."

Alya laughed. "Girl, you are always having a crisis."

When Marinette's expression didn't change, Alya carefully closed her book, put it aside, and looked at Marinette seriously. "Listen to me. If you feel that strongly, why don't you do something about it? Shoot your shot. If he says no, well, at least you have an answer and you can stop thinking about it."

Marinette frowned as she considered this. "But then he'll know I like him."

"Well, yes."

"And I'll know if he likes me?"

"Yes."

"And then he'll laugh and tell everyone and I'll have to move to a different continent so I never see any of them ever again."

"Ye- wait, Marinette, no."

Marinette buried her face in Alya's pillow. "I can't do it!"

~~~~~~

Marinette’s shift was going surprisingly well. She’d been in a mood earlier that day, frustrated with the antics of Chloe, a girl in her year at school. Fortunately, Alya had nipped that in the bud and distracted Marinette by pulling faces when the managers weren’t looking.

Marinette glanced up from her screen and caught a glimpse of that signature red work vest and blonde hair. Adrien had just finished his shift and was passing the checkouts on his way out. “Yeah, on Wednesday,” he was laughing in reply to a coworker further up. As he drew near the doors, and therefore her checkout by the end, Marinette tried to focus on her work. She was just pulling out a new bag to use - which was good, because she still wasn’t exactly known for being the most graceful packer yet and she didn’t want him to see her clumsiness - when he passed her. He seemed to hesitate, then said “See you later, Marinette.”

“See you later,” she squeaked in reply. He left, and she simultaneously berated herself for letting her voice be approximately half an octave higher than usual and congratulated herself for managing to respond at all like a normal human being. _Goodbye, subject of my fantasies._

Further along, Alya was raising her eyebrows suggestively at the little interaction. Marinette rolled her eyes in return and gave her friend a half-hearted glare. Alya just laughed.

~~~~

She had been working on her English assignment all day. Her only breaks had been when she was on the bus - and that was only because she knew if her laptop somehow got damaged her life would be over.

She hadn’t moved for two hours. She couldn’t remember what day it was. She couldn’t remember her own name. But hey, she was halfway through a twelve-page paper, so who needed those unnecessary details anyway?

A sudden noise jolted Marinette out of the ‘homework zone’. She cursed and felt around for her phone. Grabbing it with one hand and keeping her eyes on her computer screen, she answered distractedly, assuming it was Alya calling to ask about the assignment. “Yeah, what’s up?”

For a moment no one answered, as if taken aback. “Uh, hello, Marinette? This is Adrien. From work.”

Marinette immediately froze, then straightened, her free hand going to her hair instinctively. “Oh! I’m so sorry. Um - hi, how are you?” she tried to salvage.

“I’m good, thanks,” Adrien replied smoothly. _Like the perfect model of a human being that he was._ “I’m just calling to see if you’d be available to work a shift tonight- “ he paused, assumedly in response to the crash of two of her textbooks falling from her bed to the floor. “Er, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, yes. Um- tonight, you said? I’m studying at the moment, but- I mean- I could probably get away with it…” she rambled, mostly to herself. “Sorry, what time was the shift?” she added, realising she hadn’t asked.

“It’s a five till nine,” Adrien replied, sounding amused.

Marinette let out a breath, forcing herself to think clearly and running a hand through her hair again. “Yes. I can do that. I… will be there soon, then,” she managed, the words coming out a little more overdramatic than planned.

“Great, thanks! See you in a bit.”

“See you later,” she finished, and fell forward into her bed with a despairing sigh.

~~~~

Marinette tried to surreptitiously search the checkouts as she, her mum and Manon - who she was caring for for the day - made their way through the store. She quickly found Adrien, and just as quickly looked away again. _So smooth, Marinette_.

Sabine lined up at Rose’s checkout and Marinette tried to hide her (completely unwarranted) disappointment. _Though it’s probably better_ , she mused. _Don’t want to be obvious, after all._

She took Manon to the end of her checkout where there was a bench and a chair. Manon jumped up on the chair and Marinette bobbed down next to her, since the bench was already occupied. Marinette then spent the next five minutes introducing Manon to the finer points of _I Spy_ , giggling together and exchanging high fives until Marinette was looking around for inspiration for her turn and saw Adrien glancing over with a smile as he packed a woman’s shopping into a bag.

Marinette’s heart fluttered. “Um, I spy something starting with… _gorgeous_ ,” she finished in a whisper.

Manon stared at her. “What?”

“What?”

~~~~

Alya rushed up the stairs of the Dupain-Chang bakery to Marinette’s bedroom. She burst through the door, pushed her hair impatiently out of her eyes, and looked expectantly at her friend. “What’s wrong?” she panted.

Marinette blinked up at her. “I wanted to talk to you.”

Alya stared at her friend for a moment before huffing and collapsing on the end of Marinette’s bed. “You texted me,” she said emotionlessly. “ _Come now - urgent!!!_ ”

Marinette cringed a little. “Yeahhh, that may have been a little misleading.”

Alya raised her eyebrows. “You think? Girl, I thought you were in trouble!”

Marinette nodded apologetically. “Okay but in my defence, what I have to talk to you about is really important. Like, super important. Super life-changing decision-making happening here!” When Alya remained unimpressed, Marinette took a deep breath. “I’ve decided to confess to Adrien.”

A small scream escaped Alya as she sat bolt upright. “Are you kidding me? Seriously?!”

Marinette nodded again. “I’ve come to terms with the crush, and it’s driving me insane having a problem I can’t fix. So maybe this will at least make it go away.”

Alya leaned over and hugged her. “I’m so proud of you.”

~~~~~~

Adrien was having a weird week. First, his father had asked how he was doing - more uncommon than it sounded. Then Marinette had freaked out when he’d come to reboot her checkout when it died. Then he’d found a note in his locker, but his water bottle had spilled on it so he had no idea what it said. Then he’d found _another_ note ripped in half as if someone had tried desperately to pull it back out of his locker. Then Alya had sniggered at him for three hours. Then Marinette had freaked out _again_ when he called her up to the service desk for a routine online training module.

Come to think of it, Marinette had been acting rather strangely recently. She’d always been a little shy and awkward in a cute way, but it seemed to be escalating. He wondered if she was alright. _Probably stressed because of_ exams, he decided. Adrien knew Marinette put her full energy into any effort she decided to make, so the end of the year was bound to be exhausting for her. He admired that quality of hers, and as he idly gazed off to the side thinking about his coworker, someone suddenly coughed next to him.

Adrien jumped and glanced to his left. _Damn_. Alya was staring at him with raised eyebrows, her lips twitching. “Distracted, Adrien?” she asked innocently.

He recovered from the surprise and shrugged. “Just thinking about Marinette.”

Alya blinked, and Adrien realised how that sounded. “No it’s not like that, I just…” he paused.

“What were you thinking about?” Alya pressed.

He shrugged again. “She’s so hardworking, and she’s been acting different lately. I was just wondering if she’s okay. She’s probably feeling stressed, and I was thinking we should make sure she doesn’t push herself too hard.”

Looking up, he noticed a curious expression on Alya’s face. Midway between shock and elation, he decided.

Alya gaped at him. “You like her!” she announced.

“What? No I don’t. I mean, of course I do, Marinette’s great. But I’m not- I mean, I don’t-”

Adrien stopped talking. His mind whirred. His face went blank. “Oh my god.”

“Oh my god,” Alya whispered.

Adrien jolted back. “Wait, you- you can’t tell her. You’re her best friend, I know, but you can’t tell her.”

Alya frowned at him.

“I’m serious, Alya. I don’t want her to feel awkward at work, she doesn’t need this bothering her.”

Alya squinted at him like he was an idiot. He levelled a look back at her.

After a moment of silence, she huffed in exasperation but nodded. “Fine,” she conceded. “I won’t tell her. But you really should pay more attention, dumbass. You might notice something.”

_I literally just noticed I have a crush on my coworker. What else am I supposed to know?_

~~~~~~

“Hey, Adrien? Can I talk to you?”

Adrien looked up to see Marinette hovering near the table he was sitting at in the break room. A smile broke out over his face. “Sure, what can I do you for?”

Confusingly, a blush broke over her cheeks at his phrasing. “Literally nothing,” she muttered.

“What?”

Marinette shook her head rapidly. “Sorry, nevermind.” She sat in the chair opposite him and twisted her hands in her lap for a few seconds. She had prepared a full-on speech a few days ago, but now wasn’t so sure that was the best approach. _Like ripping a bandaid off._

“Ikindofhaveacrushonyou.”

Adrien blinked. “Ah… excuse me?”

She closed her eyes tightly, then nodded with resolve. “I like you.”

Something about what she was saying wasn’t registering in Adrien’s mind. “Well thanks, I think we all get along pretty well here.”

Marinette frowned. “No, I- oh,” her eyes flickered downwards. “I see.” He was trying to let her down gently, give her an out. Even now, he was trying to be kind. If only she could hate him for it.

Adrien was genuinely lost. “You see…?”

Marinette put on a brave smile and stood. “It’s okay. Please don’t think about it anymore.” She began to leave, but turned back at the doorway. “I think that’s all I needed - to get it out. I won’t bother you again.” She left, leaving Adrien in flabbergasted silence. _What was that?_

~~~~~~

"Marinette, please contact the service desk by phone, Marinette."

Marinette glanced up, fingers automatically dialling the service desk. She gave her current customer a quick smile and held up a finger. "Sorry, just a moment."

The ringing stopped as someone picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, this is Marinette," she offered, cradling the phone between her cheek and shoulder as she continued slowly and carefully scanning items.

"Hi Marinette, I have some information I think you'd find interes- oof!"

She raised her eyebrows and looked up towards the service desk. A small scuffle appeared to have broken out between two employees, one trying to grab the phone from the other. She rolled her eyes and said, "Alrighty then, I'm going to go back to my job. Bye!"

Marinette waved away the customer's curious expression and finished off the transaction. She smiled at the man politely and turned to the next customer. "Hello, how are you?"

She was chatting cheerfully with the woman when the loudspeaker _dinged_ to indicate a message. She tilted her head slightly to listen whilst still half-paying attention to the customer.

"Marinette, please give the service desk your phone number since they seem _extremely interested_ in acquiring it."

Marinette paused with the phone already in her hand, ready to dial. "Wait... what?" She glanced up and saw the team members around her stifling laughs or looking similarly confused. _Right, didn't imagine it then_. She turned to Alya, who was working behind her, and whispered, "What did that just say?"

"Apparently the service desk would like your phone number," Alya relayed dutifully and entirely unhelpfully, shoulders shaking slightly with mirth.

Marinette hesitated for a moment before calling the service desk. "Um, hi? I think my name was called?"

Caline's voice came through. "Don't worry about it Marinette, I've got it sorted. Nevermind them."

The rest of her shift passed in relative peace, though she was pretty sure Alya's customers weren't actually that funny and the residual giggles were directed at her.

As she left, Marinette noticed Adrien and Nino having a quiet but heated discussion, Nino berating Adrien while Adrien seemed to be shaking his head stubbornly. Marinette thought she heard Nino say "but if you never tell her-" before they both noticed her walking past and straightened, immediately silencing. _Well then_. Sighing and resigning herself to the fact that she would never understand boys, Marinette just waved to them as she left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter here. Probably going to be ~10,000 words once I'm finished!


	3. Chapter 3

In the break room, Marinette took a bite of her sandwich and smiled uncharacteristically openly as Adrien took a seat next to her.

"Hi," he greeted.

"Hello," she said brightly. "Do you want to hear my news?"

"Uh, sure," he replied, looking intrigued.

"Well," Marinette began, leaning forward dramatically. "I applied for a fashion internship, right, and... offers came out today."

Adrien looked interested and gestured for her to continue.

" _And_ , I was offered one!" she finished, unable to suppress the grin that crept onto her face.

Adrien's face brightened. "That's awesome! So what's the plan?"

"Well, actually, I'm..." Marinette let out a little breathy laugh, still shocked herself. "I'm moving to Milan. The company that accepted me has its headquarters there. I'm going to be the best damn fashion designer they ever saw."

"Milan?" Adrien asked. "Wow."

Marinette was slightly confused by his surprise, though she knew it was huge news. "Well I mean, I was top of my classes and they said they really liked the portfolio I submitted, so yeah. I've wanted to be a top designer since... well, since I really knew what it was, and Milan has some really great opportunities."

Adrien nodded slowly. "Well then, I'm happy for you. Congratulations."

She grinned in return. "Anyway, that's the end of my lunch break, so I've got to go. See you out there!"

If Marinette had stayed a few moments longer, she might have seen the crestfallen look on Adrien's face as he watched her leave. "See you out there," he murmured.

~~~~~~

Marinette had decided she needed to do something big.

She had spoken to Alya extensively about the disaster that was her confession, and Alya had questioned if Adrien had even understood what Marinette was getting at. Marinette had gotten frustrated and angrily said that “ _he may be a boy, but he’s not actually dumb, Alya.”_

Alya had carefully laughed and suggested that Marinette tell him again. Just to be sure. After no small amount of cajoling, Marinette had finally conceded.

It had been three years, and those underlying feelings had only become more and more insistent. Sure she'd had crushes before, in primary school when it was the 'thing to do'. Oh sure, she'd had a crush on that kid from her music class, or she'd thought that other kid was cute. But she'd never actually _liked_ someone like she liked Adrien. She'd never been so distracted in her life; somehow everything made her think of him. Her mum bought Golden Delicious apples? Adrien didn't like those. He'd only mentioned it that one time when they first met, and yet it was a fact still stuck in her mind.

She'd been out at dinner with her parents for her father's birthday a couple of weeks ago and all she could think of was that the supermarket was only a few streets away and she knew from the roster that Adrien was working at that very moment.

She always took pictures of the roster so she could refer to it throughout the week, but right after briefly checking her shifts her eyes now automatically sought out _Adrien_ to see if they had any overlapping shifts.

This had gone on for long enough.

~~~~~~

It was a busy Saturday, and the shop was full of people. Customers and employees alike bustled around, collecting their groceries and keeping things running smoothly. _Ding_. Someone was using the loudspeaker, probably to call for stock replacement or customer assistance.

"Um, hi," an uncertain voice began.

Adrien looked up, along with a few other checkout workers.

"I know this is a bit of an... unconventional use for the loudspeaker, but there's something I need to say."

People were glancing around, trying to figure out where the person was. Adrien looked up and down the checkouts, but saw no one using the phones. Up in the service area, Caline didn't look concerned. Rather, she seemed... hopeful? She seemed to be listening closely with anticipation.

"So, I've been working here for almost three years now and I've gotten to know people pretty well. I've made friends, and... yeah. It's been good."

Who had started three years ago? It wasn't an instantly recognisable voice, so that ruled out the supervisors and managers (who used the loudspeaker more than anyone), and they'd mostly been there longer than that anyway. Voices sounded different over the speaker though, so it was harder to recognise who it was.

"Basically, it turns out I've been offered an internship with the company I've wanted to work for since I was fourteen."

A few customers clapped hesitantly.

"But the company is based kinda far away. And for all the friends I've made here, there is someone that I've struggled to talk to. And so I decided that, since I'll be leaving soon anyway, this will be my last chance to tell that person how I f-feel about them."

The first hint of nervousness crept into the voice. There was a jostling sound, and the girl added "Oh, and- I don't want to share my name, but I'm pretty sure you'll figure it out soon enough if you haven't already."

Before anyone could react, a guitar started playing.

The girl's - for she was clearly female - voice wasn't flashy or newsworthy, but it was sweet and echoed through the store, somehow clear even through the somewhat-unreliable speakers.

~~~~~~

"Where is she?" he demanded, not bothering to specify who. Alya knew exactly who he was talking about.

"Marinette's not here," she said, firmly but not unkindly. "That was her last shift."

Adrien didn't move, his head frozen on those words. _Her last shift._

Alya sighed and took pity on him. "If it helps, she really cared about you. I think she just didn't know how to deal with the emotions so she tucked them away until she realised it was her last chance." She looked at him steadily. "If you had asked, she would have said yes."

Alya watched the stunned boy and had a quiet internal struggle before deciding she had an obligation to Marinette. Adrien deserved to know, no matter how much it might hurt. "This was left for you," she offered, passing him a small envelope. 'Adrien' was written on it in tight, neat handwriting. Alya gave him a small smile before sensitively moving away to give him privacy.

He barely looked at her as he took it, eyes locked on the paper. "Thanks," he murmured as he opened it, unsure of what to expect. He glanced around, saw there was no one watching, and leaned against the counter to read.

_Dear Adrien,_

_I know it's better to do this sort of thing in person, but I'm not very brave when it comes to matters of the heart and after chickening out several times I decided it was best to just get it over with and write you a letter instead._

_You probably know by now that it was me who played the song over the loudspeaker. Yes, it was meant for you. I've only known you a couple of years, and whilst we've only spoken a few times, something draws me to you. I don't know if it's your smile, laugh, that I know you are much cleverer than you let on, your sense of humour, or how you always know the right thing to say. The way you seem to understand me, know everything about me, whilst hardly knowing anything at all._

_I'm not one to yearn for fairytale endings. I've seen enough of the world and its heartbreak to know that isn't always how it works. And I know there is a good chance you don't feel the same, in which case... well, please simply take this as a compliment and don't feel reluctant to tell me the truth. But I'm willing to take the risk. If you are, too._

_I leave for Milan in four days. I just thought I ought to tell you before I go, so we both have time to think, and if your answer is negative hopefully by the time I return we will both be able to carry on as if nothing happened._

_You don't have to answer right away. I'll wait for you._

_Yours,_

_Marinette Dupain-Cheng_


	4. Chapter 4

After clocking in, Adrien leaned against the service counter as he waited to be assigned to a register.Caline was having a quiet conversation with a dark-haired girlin uniform who had her back facing him.They seemed deep in conversation, so Adrien supposed she was a new employee.

Adrien was lost in thought when Caline patted the girl on the shoulder and moved back to focus on her computer screen.The new girl would have to pass Adrien on her way to the checkouts, so he shifted out of the way.

“Hey Adrien,”, an all-too-familiar voice said, and he saw a flash of a grin.Time slowed for a moment, but Marinette didn’t give him a chance to respond before adding “anyway, for-to-go-things-to-do-customer-to-serve-bye!”She speed-walked away, opening on a register down the other end.She didn’t look back in his direction.

Adrien snapped out of his stupor.“I- Marinette!”Glancing wildly to his left, he saw Caline and Alya watching him with raised eyebrows.“She’s back!” he added, in case they didn’t understand.Alya was obviously attempting to hide a grin.

Adrien didn’t wait another moment.He ran down the line of registers until he reached Marinette’s.Someone was already working back-to-back with her, but he wasn’t about to let this go on any longer.

“You.Up to the service desk.Now.”Usually he wouldn’t be so rude, but he was too worked up to properly care.Caline would reassign the employee for now.

Marinette had tensed, her back straightening the moment he came nearby, but didn’t acknowledge him.She seemed determined to ignore everything that had happened between them altogether; pretend the words he had memorised never existed.

They worked quietly for a while, Adrien sneaking glances over his shoulder every now and then.Marinette appeared to be making a valiant effort to carry on as usual, making small talk with customers, but her usual tell gave her away: her hands shook when she was nervous.Adrien had noticed it before (it would have been impossible not to when she was handing customers receipts and the paper was shaking) but he’d never thought much of it in the past.Maybe she was cold, maybe she was stressed or nervous about something else.However, in light of her letter he had begun to wonder.

Eventually there was a lull in the seeming unending lines of customers, and Adrien turned to face Marinette.She still had her back to him, so he tapped her lightly on the shoulder.

She jumped, cheeks flushing pink as she - very reluctantly - turned to face him.

“Hey,” he said lamely.“Can we talk?”

Marinette crinkled her nose and set her shoulders.“I don’t think this is the right time for that.”

Adrien frowned, frustration rising quickly.“It’s been months- “

“Tomorrow night,” Marinette interrupted quickly.“At the work party.We can talk then.Okay?”

Adrien looked down into her dark eyes, and slowly nodded.“Fine.Tomorrow.”

Tomorrow couldn’t some soon enough.

~~~~~~

Marinette was pretty sure she’d never been so nervous in her life.She chewed her bottom lip as she stood with Alya, a glass of lemonade in her hand.She hadn’t had a single sip, but she needed the crutch so she wouldn’t just fiddle with her hands.

Alya had helped choose her outfit, and had carefully arranged her hair in a pretty half-up style, waves falling down over her shoulders.Alya was laughing next to her, talking with Nino.Marinette wasn’t even trying to follow the conversation.The lemonade in her hand shook slightly in the glass.

A hand rested on her wrist and she looked up into Alya’s reassuring gaze.“It’s going to be okay,” her friend whispered.“You’ve waited long enough.You’ve got this.”

Marinette nodded. _This is it,_ she reminded herself.After tonight, she wouldn’t have to worry about this again.

“Hey, Adrien!” Nino called out, overly loud.He shot Alya a pointed look.“Good to see you, buddy!”

Alya squeezed Marinette’s wrist and let go.An easy smile fell on her face.

Marinette took a deep breath and turned to face Adrien.Her breath left her, and her nerves fell away.He was standing there, eyes on her, an unreadable look on his face.

She raised her chin and gave a tiny smile, unable to form words as a confusing medley of emotion rose within her.Somehow, that smile would have to be enough.

Fortunately, it seemed Adrien was by now fluent in Marinette.The blank look disappeared, and he strode toward her.His hands rose and and Marinette finally breathed again as they tangled in her hair.

Adrien kissed her as if she were something precious, something to be treasured.The kiss was short and sweet, and Marinette kept her eyes closed for a moment afterward, before opening them to see Adrien looking at her in quiet awe.She buried her head in his shoulder and breathed him in, willing it to be real, to not be a dream, to be really, actually happening.

“Well I think I’m going to go get another drink.Anyone want anything?”There was obvious laughter in Nino’s voice.

Marinette glanced over to see Nino with his arm around Alya, a hand over her mouth.Alya’s eyes were wide, and she pulled Nino’s hand away.A tiny, high-pitched noise emerged from her throat.

“I’ll get you a juice,” Nino decided.

“I’ll come with you,” Adrien offered.He leaned in to give Marinette a kiss on the cheek, before going with Nino towards the drinks bar.

Marinette fell into Alya’s arms, letting the other girl support her.Alya let out an ear-piercing squeal right in her ear, but Marinette couldn’t find it in herself to care.“Holy shit,” she whispered.

Alya- _did she have actual tears in her eyes?_ \- beamed at her.“I am so proud.I am so, so happy for you.You and Adrien!”

Marinette looked over to the bar to see Adrien already glancing back at her.She flushed and ducked her head back down, but when she glanced up he was still looking at her, eyes incredibly soft.

“Yeah,” Marinette whispered.“Me and Adrien.”

_~ After the party ~_

_Adrien:So I saw you were there tonight - there had been some speculation over whether you would chicken out_

_Marinette:Excuse you_

_Marinette:Of course I was there.There was something important I had to do._

_Adrien:Did it go well?_

_Marinette:I guess we’ll find out._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Let me know what you think of the AU here, I figured I'd change it up a little (◕‿◕)
> 
> (Title from "Feels Like This" by Maisie Peters. I pretty much listened exclusively to her music whilst writing this one!)


End file.
